Kamloops’ secret weapon in battle against noxious weeds: 440 goats

Kamloops' secret weapon in battle against noxious weeds: 440 goats

KAMLOOPS. B.C. — This city had a problem. Noxious weeds, choking the life out of rugged Kenna Cartwright Park. Dalmatian toadflax might look pretty when it flowers, but the plant is a scourge. Prolific and fast-growing, it competes with native grasses and wildflowers. It’s toxic to certain animal species. But not to goats. They love the stuff.

A large herd — 440 ravenous head and growing — is munching its way across three hectares of hilly parkland each day, attacking the dreaded toadflax. The weed hasn’t stood a chance.

Which is a great relief to Karla Hoffman, the City of Kamloops’ integrated pest management coordinator.

Hiring goats to confront a weed infestation might seem like simple common sense. It’s a common strategy in Europe, where goats abound, and it’s catching on south of the border. But Canada lags in all things goat.

Calling in the beasts was “a little outside the box,” Ms. Hoffman admits, and brought with it some risk. Would the goats run amok and eat everything in sight? Butt heads with homegrown creatures, coyotes, deer and bears? Chase pets?

Ms. Hoffman made a strong case. She convinced her colleagues to dispense with tried and true methods — chemical sprays, uprooting weeds by hand — and take a flier on goats. Just 20 days, a pilot project. Turns out the goats are great. They chew the toadflax, and eschew the grass. They don’t cause a fuss. In fact, they’re a public relations hit. Kamloops is now being hailed for its “green” approach to life. And new visitors are coming to the park for a chance to mingle with the four-legged guests.

The animals come cheaply, too. Ms. Hoffman estimates they’re chewing at a rate of $300 per hectare, about half the cost of chemical spraying and traditional hand-pulling. Word has quickly spread; private businesses are looking at the pilot project with interest. But other municipalities don’t seem interested, and in any case, the national goat supply is short. There aren’t enough to go around.

Conrad Lindblom aims to change that. He’s a committed goat man, and owner of the temporary Kamloops herd. He dreams of the day when all goats get their due. Cows are overrated, Mr. Lindblom says. And they stink.

“Then there’s these guys,” he says, pointing to the fenced enclosure where his 440 goats — and counting — rest between shifts, under a hot afternoon sun. “You notice? Hardly any smell at all.” It’s true. There’s just a whiff of something, a hint of semi-ripened chèvre.

But these are working goats; they aren’t meant for milking or eating. Not yet. Some of the billies will eventually be culled and butchered for their meat. Thinning the herd is just part of the job, Mr. Lindblom says. Goats, especially contented, well-fed ones, are prolific breeders. Witness the temporary Kamloops herd: Little goat kids, everywhere. And mating season is just around the corner. Another spectacle to watch.

Annie Booth knows all about that. A professor in the ecosystem science and management program at the University of Northern British Columbia, she launched a much smaller, research-oriented goat project five years ago, in Prince George. “The herd doubled in size in one year,” she says.

Her goats were tasked with eliminating thistle growth around the Prince George sewage ponds, a riparian area on which chemicals can’t be deployed. “The herd was very effective,” notes Dr. Booth. “We saw a 30% thistle reduction over the two years we ran the project.” But her research funds expired and the city chose not to put the goats on staff. Too bad. The thistles have bounced back.

Could goats be effectively deployed as weed eaters in other urban settings, coast to coast? Sure, says Dr. Booth. But locations must be chosen carefully. Nicely manicured parks wouldn’t benefit at all; the goats would decimate the flower beds and such. Forget about goats grazing in parc du Mont-Royal, or on the Toronto’s Islands, outside of the petting zoo, at least. Even Vancouver, which aims to be the “world’s greenest city,” has “never considered goats for weed control,” according to a park board spokesman.

Meanwhile, the Kamloops project is already winding down. Mr. Lindblom and his hired goat hands will soon be herding 440-plus toadflax-fattened goats onto trucks for the trip back to northwestern Alberta, their home. They’ll be redeployed, conducting weed-control on forest clear cuts.

Perhaps they’ll return next year. Ms. Hoffman hopes so. The experiment has paid off, and Kamloopians have come to love the goats. “Someone called us the other day,” she says, “wanting to rent one out.”